Alan Ball, Marc Cherry, Gus Van Sant

Alan Ball, Marc Cherry, Gus Van Sant

The Times / ABC / Getty Images

'Housewives' a little less desperate? Some of the most memorable characters on film and TV in recent years have come from the minds and visions of gay auteurs. Without Marc Cherrys scheming Housewives or Alan Balls Fisher family from Six Feet Under (not to mention all those southern vampires on True Blood), wed have several more hours of police and medical procedurals every week. And what would awards season become without the contributions of gay filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant (Milk and Good Will Hunting) or Ball (who wrote the screenplay for American Beauty)?

'Housewives' a little less desperate? Some of the most memorable characters on film and TV in recent years have come from the minds and visions of gay auteurs. Without Marc Cherrys scheming Housewives or Alan Balls Fisher family from Six Feet Under (not to mention all those southern vampires on True Blood), wed have several more hours of police and medical procedurals every week. And what would awards season become without the contributions of gay filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant (Milk and Good Will Hunting) or Ball (who wrote the screenplay for American Beauty)? (The Times / ABC / Getty Images)

'Housewives' a little less desperate? Some of the most memorable characters on film and TV in recent years have come from the minds and visions of gay auteurs. Without Marc Cherrys scheming Housewives or Alan Balls Fisher family from Six Feet Under (not to mention all those southern vampires on True Blood), wed have several more hours of police and medical procedurals every week. And what would awards season become without the contributions of gay filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant (Milk and Good Will Hunting) or Ball (who wrote the screenplay for American Beauty)?